It is the common practice at golf driving ranges to provide the practice golfer with golf balls by the bucketful for practice hitting to improve the golfer's swing, stance, grip, and so forth. After hitting the ball from the tee, the golfer must move from his stance to the bucket, stoop over and take a new ball from the bucket, move to the tee, place the ball on the tee, then straigten up and resume his stance for hitting the new ball.
The present invention provides a considerable improvement on this procedure. It obviates the need to abandon one's grip and stance and go through all the motions, particularly the stooping motion, necessary to replace a ball on the tee after every stroke. The automated teeing apparatus of this invention is of particular value to golf instructors and their pupils. The instructor's function is to observe subtle errors in the grip, stance, swing, or some other aspect of the pupil's performance and to show the pupil how to correct them. The present need to remove the grip and move from the stance to place a new ball on the tee interrupts the continuity of this procedure. The pupil's initial (perhaps incorrect) grip and stance, which are the conditions of reference for corrective instruction, is perforce lost. The apparatus of this invention eliminates the necessity of manual ball replacement and therefore makes instruction more efficient and effective.
The practice golfer using this apparatus without an instructor, i.e. at a driving range, will enjoy the same benefit and will be enabled to more effectively experiment with grip, stance, and swing, and to make appropriate adjustments of the same. In addition, the apparatus prevents or decreases fatigue, and therefore simply makes the driving range easier and more convenient to use.